Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by untog 3847 days ago
Augmented reality has been the sci-fi dream forever, but I'm really, really skeptical about its applications in real life. Not that they don't exist - the shoot-em-up game demoed in that video looks fantastic. The Gmail app looks horrendous. Worth billions? Depends on the implementation, and a demo video is very far from the real thing. I wouldn't be investing.
3 comments
tomphoolery 3847 days ago
It is a very niche market...But if you look back in technology history, you'll notice that the tech always seems to come before the applications.

There has already been usage of Oculus Rift headsets during surgical procedures and medical consultations, so that patients don't have to fly halfway around the world to see the specialist for their extremely rare disorder or whatever. I can see contact lens-based augmented reality being very helpful in a surgical procedure.

link
hmate9 3847 days ago
It's applications are virtually limitless. Everything from manufactoring to gaming to content consumption can change with a good augmented reality device.
link
untog 3847 days ago
Didn't people say the same about Google Glass before it came out? I know, I know - this is very far from Google Glass. But all we have is a really broad concept and some flashy demo videos.

"It's going to change content consumption in a limitless way" doesn't really mean anything. Based on past predictions, the way we consume content is supposed to have been revolutionized about 100 times by now.

link
tlrobinson 3847 days ago
Google Glass was a shitty augmented reality device. Magic Leap looks like it could be the real deal, if they can make the hardware unobtrusive enough.

> the way we consume content is supposed to have been revolutionized about 100 times by now.

It has been at least once a decade for at least my lifetime (personal computers, internet, mobile)

I predict in 10 years VR/AR will be as boring as smartphones are now.

link
OmarIsmail 3847 days ago
VR in 10 years, and AR 10 years after that.
link
hanniabu 3847 days ago
It would work great for commercial, medical, and military training purposes. You can use it to train personnel how to perform tasks that would generally be considered too dangerous, expensive, or risky to jump into first hand training. Doing so could also help lower insurance costs.
link